Ottumwa native advocates for release of American hostages, detainees

Jul. 21—A mural calling attention to 18 American citizens currently detained or held hostage in foreign countries was recently unveiled in an alley in Georgetown, Washington D.C. — and created by an Ottumwa native.

Isaac Campbell, media professional, artist and Fulbright Scholar, created the mural with the help of families who continue to grieve the absence of loved ones. The mural, made up of flour, water and paper, is a collage of the faces of each detainee and hostage. This form of public art, called wheat pasting, is traditionally recognized as a form of protest.

"Whether that was small posters that were glued up as people ran away to now something far grander than just a poster, it has been giving a voice to the voiceless. It's been people reclaiming public space as a place for art and human stories, and that's exactly what we've done here today," Campbell said.

On Wednesday, the mural's unveiling was broadcast live on YouTube as part of the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, a group made up of family members who have loved ones wrongfully detained or held hostage in foreign countries. The broadcast was led by Jonathan Franks, spokesperson for Bring Our Families Home, and contained emotional speeches from Campbell and family members. Roger Carstens, the U.S. State Department's special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, also addressed the crowd.

"This is not a mural that I constructed myself. This is something that we constructed together. I think that's really important to understand," Campbell said. "They glued their family members to the wall. That, in itself, is so important in what this is about.

"It is not just about a mural. It's about the act of creating something together collaboratively, which is what this organization has been doing to bring these families together to share in their grief and suffering and to use the tools that they have available to work to bring each others' families home."

The mural is a plea to President Joe Biden and the United States government to bring the American detainees and hostages home. According to Franks, at least 65 Americans are currently being detained or held hostage around the globe, including WNBA star Brittney Griner in Russia. The U.S. government has not disclosed an official number of Americans detained abroad.

The following Americans are represented on Campbell's mural:

Emad Shargi, Iran; Luke Denman, Venezuela; Alirio J. Zambrano, Venezuela; Morad Tahbaz, Iran; Mark Swidan, China; Jose Angel Pereira, Venezuela; Siamak Namazi, Iran; Baquer Namazi, Iran; Jorge Toledo, Venezuela; Matthew Heath, Venezuela; Majd Kamalmaz, Syria; Airan Berry, Venezuela; Paul Whelan, Russia; Shahab Dalili, Iran; Kai Li, China; and Paul Rusesabagina, Rwanda.

Some Americans have been detained for more than a decade. Campbell's mural is not only a plea for action, but an "intense juxtaposition of time."

"All of these images have come from family members. These are treasured artifacts. Many of these photos are the last photographs that these families have had of their loved one before they were taken," Campbell said. "You all have photographs of your loved ones, and I think it would be terrible to think that that would be the last photo you have of them. But for many of these people, that's the case.

"You can see time in the resolution of the pictures when you look at different members and how blurry their faces are when you're talking about a digital camera picture from 2012 next to one from 2020."

Campbell, a 2009 graduate of Ottumwa High School, became enamored with wheat pasting during his time as a Fulbright research grantee in Budapest, Hungary. Since then, he has created wheat pastings for Oscar-nominated campaigns in Los Angeles in addition to small community art projects in Ottumwa and across Iowa.

Campbell received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Northern Iowa and lives in Story City, Iowa.

"It has been an honor ... to work with every one of you to be trusted with your family photo ... to adjust [the wheat pasting] so the smile is just right. I will always cherish this," Campbell said.

Emily Hawk is the associate editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. She can be reached at ehawk@ottumwacourier.com.